RE: Nitpicky little style question

Subject: RE: Nitpicky little style question
From: "Chinell, David F \(GE Indust, Security\)" <David -dot- Chinell -at- GE -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:40:38 -0500

You can't just invent new style and language and usage based on what you think will work for a user.

What "works" for a user is style and language and usage of which he is not even aware. That means style and language and usage he expects from habit. Those habits are begun at the outset of formal education, are expanded as the reader exposes himself to different communication media, and are reinforced on a daily basis.

The mechanical underpinnings of those habits are codified in various style guides and dictionaries, and are not invented by individual writers.

You can certainly contribute to the evolution of language and the style and usage conventions by inventing and publishing your experiments, however, you do so at the expense of your reader.

Bear
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References:
RE: Nitpicky little style question: From: James Barrow

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